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June 11, 2017by: carolbiederman

10 Ways to Entertain Kids on a Road Trip [Infographic]

Road tripping with kids in tow is an exciting adventure sure to provide many memorable moments. It is also an adventure that can have its share of challenging moments, like hour #10 with several hours still to go! Don’t enter that car unprepared! Check out these family favorite ways to keep kids, and parents too, entertained during those long hours on the road. No matter the age, road trip game are sure to bring the family together along the way!

We’ve spent hours on the open road traveling to vacation destinations, kids stuffed in back seats. From Minnesota to Montana, to family affairs several states away, and around the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, our family has experienced our share of long hours locked inside a moving vehicle. Keeping everyone entertained along the way at times has proved daunting, yet often quite entertaining as well! Today, we share our favorite games, and a few essential strategies too, to help you on your own journey of road trip bliss and happiness.

Family Favorite Road Trip Games

Road tripping is not only a means by which we arrive at our destination, it is also an integral component of the journey as well as a time for family bonding. With a little planning, turn your own 15 hour drive from boring and exhausting, into an extension of the vacation itself. Those hours spent strapped inside a moving vehicle set an ideal stage for family reconnection.

So where to begin that road trip reconnection? With road trip games! There’s a reason I Spy, Road Trip Bingo, and Hangman have survived through the years. They make perfect on-the-go games for families to reconnect and decompress from hectic daily lives. Nothing brings on family laughter more than games played together. Our family favorite road trip games, no matter the age, have been License Plate Lingo and I Spy. Admittedly, now that they are teenagers, road trip games do take on a decidedly more competitive twist!

To help you get on the road well prepared for your own kind of family in-car entertainment, here are ten car games sure to keep your kids entertained. Each has been road tested over the years and never seems to grow old, even though our kids have! So go on. Have fun the next time you’re stuck in a car with kids for hours on end! Create your own road trip memories of a lifetime. That’s what vacations are all about, right?

Top Tip: Pack A Road Trip Essentials Bag

Games on the go are great tools to entertain and pass the hours. But there will come a point when the games have run their course, and everyone needs a break. To keep the kids going even when the games do not, pack a small day bag specific for everyone in the car. Include essentials each individual will appreciate. Here’s what we include in our road trip go-bags:

Road trip games are fun and entertaining, but inevitably even games and those day bag essentials will no longer entertain. Consider packing into your own day bag a few secret prizes for those moments when games, movies and music have exhausted their entertainment value. Nothing brings the kids’ attention around more than the opportunity of winning a prize!

One More Inspired Road Trip Survival Tip

Do you dread that annoying chant, Are we there yet? Or the questioning crescendo of How much longer? Not looking forward to non-stop dialogue of When will we be there? What time is it? Here’s a tried and true method to help squash the incessant questioning. Include a monetary reward tied to those question you consider pesky. We call it Pay Up Per Question!

Start by determining your own pesky question list. Let the kids know before you hit the road the kinds of questions you would like to keep to a minimum. Here’s how we work our version of Pay Up Per Question. Modify the rules to suit your own travel style.

If more travel timing questions are asked in that hour, a coin is handed over.

Any remaining coins at the end of the trip, he keeps!

This system works best with kids who have at least a basic understanding of coins. We started using Pay Up Per Question when our youngest was four years of age. And it’s worked like a charm with my kids! After handing over the first few coins, each one became very aware, and very motivated, to keep his coins.

What’s Your Road Trip Entertainment Tip?

Road tripping with kids in tow presents its own unique challenges. How do you pass the time when road tripping with kids? What’s your strategy to keep them entertained along the way? Do you have a road trip survival tip you’d like to share?

Comments

I’ve a cute baby girl. She is my queen. Already I read your articles. There are 10 tips for entertaining our baby while we are on road. Your all ways is really gorgeous. Nice blog posting. This 10 tips is really helpful & effective. I just love it. If we follow your tips, I think we will make happy on our baby in road.